AMD Might Buy AGEIA

We have been carefully watching the development and adoption rate of AGEIA's PhysX accelerators with interest. So far they've shown some promise, and we're expecting Unreal Tournament 3 and games based on its engine to provide more momentum to the standard.

What is really exciting is the possibility that AMD might purchase AGEIA. We're not sure if this means PhysX on the CPU, in a Torrenza socket, or the more traditional expansion cards we're used to, but having AMD's support could prove to be a major boon.

The main problem, according to (AMD PR Chief Richard) Huddy, is the price. ‘Our biggest problem is that Havok reputedly cost in excess of $100 million,’ says Huddy. ‘If I’d been valuing Havok, I’d have valued it at probably something like 10 per cent of that because they were in so much trouble in the marketplace, but realistically they did have some valuable IP, and you really can capitalise on that if you’re Intel in this situation.’